The Druid Grove

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Thanks, everyone, for helping to answer my question. I think I am probably as clear as I can be on this, now, and it will make sense when I see the gwersi, I'm sure. Explorer's concise answer

Well, they monitor your progress, to judge if it is safe and wise for you (and us) to continue deeper into spiritual training. And they give you encouraging answers to your questions.

combined with Philip's longer one, and the other input has helped.

Each person in different, but I'll clarify where I was coming from with my question, in case it helps one of you in presenting this information to someone in the future. When I read that "tutors" were available, despite having lived most of my life in the UK, I did at first think that this person might me marking my essays, or something. That would have been fine by me, I'm sure I would enjoy this kind of relationship, although I agree that it's debatable whether it would further me spiritually more. or less, than the system which exists.

Philip - you are right that words are blunt instruments at times. However, that's why, in describing something in writing, it's wise to define your terms, and then, if needed, define your definitions! If I were to go back and read the information on the website, I might find that you have done this, and that I should have read more carefully.

Good luck with your tutor and on your path Kris, I think you've got some great answers.

Sometimes I think it's a shame you can't tick a box when you enroll. Not everyone sees druidry as a religion, some see it as a way of life, others as an education, etc. It would be nice to have different kind of tutors with according 'skills' to the need of the 'member', but alas. I guess we can't have it all.

Good luck with your tutor and on your path Kris, I think you've got some great answers.

Sometimes I think it's a shame you can't tick a box when you enroll. Not everyone sees druidry as a religion, some see it as a way of life, others as an education, etc. It would be nice to have different kind of tutors with according 'skills' to the need of the 'member', but alas. I guess we can't have it all.

From my current place of very little actual knowledge about the OBOD process, this does seem like a great idea. However, I also believe that we often stand to learn more from someone with a different mindset than our own, than from someone who is supposedly a perfect match!

I have completed the work for the Bardic course a few times (after almost 13 years - I started in 1999.) and have been through 3 tutors in that time. However, I've not had the best of luck with tutors. (One disappeared, one quit tutoring altogether, etc. which makes it quite difficult to move forward.)

I've been on the Druid path since 1991, so this is not a path I am new to. In the almost 13 years it's taken me to do the Bardic course, I have taken courses through other organizations and completed them because their completion method is simple: send your completed work to the central preceptor and that person then will let you know if you've passed or not. If you haven't passed, there is more work to do. If you have, then you can move to the next level. I've even written my own courses which a few people are taking online and in person. I feel a hold up with the OBOD grades because of this requirement of having a tutor to pass to the next grade.

I've taken both the new and the old Bardic courses and quite frankly I feel that I am ready to move forward with the OBOD grades. How do I do this?

I've taken both the new and the old Bardic courses and quite frankly I feel that I am ready to move forward with the OBOD grades. How do I do this?

I can't help thinking that if you've completed the course a few times you'll be able to answer this question for yourself as the information you need, and it is really simple information, is in the gwersi you possess.

I notice that you say you've spent 13 years in the Bardic grade, which must have been lovely, and I bet it was frustrating at times to have to change tutors, but doesn't life just get in the way sometimes? Haven't you ever committed to something that you couldn't see through because something else unexpected happened in your life that meant you had to back out? I know I have. Thirteen years would be a hell of a time for someone to commit to you and stick with you without something else getting in the way. It's a shame that two tutors had to back out of their work with you, and bad luck, but you had your tutors replaced. So why does that make it hard to move on?

You talk of other organizations and a central preceptor. OBOD is a fairly large organization. No one person could do what the tutors do. Also, and now I'm just speaking from my own experience here, the service is entirely personal. Whenever I have written to a tutor I know absolutely that they have read what I have written, sat with it a while, given it due thought and attention, and then composed a sensitive reply. This is of inestimable value. It's not just a case of passing you through to the next level.

From my current place of very little actual knowledge about the OBOD process

I confess to being a bit flabbergasted by this. I'm reading over this thread right now, relaxing, Sunday morning, coffee, all that, and personally I'm really enjoying the breadth, and depth in fact, of answers this thread has attracted. So many people coming at this from so many different directions. Fabulous. Blimey, you even had a very comprehensive answer from the Chosen Chief.

I am at the very end of the Ovate grade, and I promise you that you know exactly as much about the 'OBOD process' as I do with all that has been given here. The only difference between you and I is that I have experienced it first hand. The 'actual knowledge' that you reckon you have very little of is that which will come from within when you dive in.

I'm not sure how recent it is, but as a history of the organisation of the order and how and why it has grown in the shape it has grown in, it seems really relevant here. It situates the tutors within the order, and makes dead enjoyable reading, I think.

Also, if you hit the back button when you reach the bottom of the page it takes you to a FAQ.

Send it to Susan Jones, last time I checked, she is the tutor coordinator, this was almost a year ago I think, but knowing OBOD a little, some things never change, so I think you can take my word for that
If not, I'm sure Selene will have send you the correct person to write to.

And if even after those steps all else fails, just send it to the office!

Whether or not 13 years is too long, is only for you to decide. I finished the ovate grade more than three years ago and never handed it in. I quit over two years ago, because I got fed up with certain aspects of the organisation, or more accurately, lack there of.

But I'm still a member and proud of it, someday I'm sure something will spark again, at that moment I will either hand it in or rewrite it and move on, untill that day comes, I'm quite happy to be where I am.

I find that when you're very passionate about something, it is best to keep some distance, because nobody and no organisation is perfect and they will only let you down. I don't mean this in a negative way, at some point it just became reality to me

Good luck with moving on to the ovate grade if that is your wish, I'm sure you will find a way.

My tutor retired when I was half way through the bardic grade, there was no problem in finding a replacement for her. I'm now too at the end of the ovate grade and have only experienced positive encouragement from all three tutors that I've had. I think you have the tutor that you need and if they are 'different' then there is some value in thinking 'outside the box', it's good and healthy to discuss others experience and to see things a different way.It's good to challenge the way that you think.

Exactly!
The tutors are human. The tutees are human. Goodness, even Philip is human (I think anyway). Because there is a "human" element in it, there are bumps and bruises along the way. And there will be both positive and negative experiences in any interaction with "humans." The trick in any life experience is to hang on to the positives and learn from the negatives and move on, IMO.

Something to remember about the tutors also: they volunteer their time, stamps etc. So sometimes, just like with us, life happens. While we patiently await a response to our eager emails or letters, they are dealing with the same things we are: power outages, sickness, death, and any other issue that may cause a delay in a response. Again, the human element.

I never thought the system was perfect, so therefore I was not disappointed. I think I got the bang for my buck and keep coming back for more, right?

I find that when you're very passionate about something, it is best to keep some distance, because nobody and no organisation is perfect and they will only let you down. I don't mean this in a negative way, at some point it just became reality to me

That is why I found it best to distinguish between the organisation, the training and the community.

A spiritual training goes very deep and is very personal. It touches the depths of your being, and can have life-changing effects. I never found it wise to have an organisation, or individuals, to have too much influence on that.
The strength of OBOD is that it is not a church or a cult, with a creed, dogma and priests. Which means that you can contact 'the source' (or however you call it) directly, without the middle (wo)man. The interpretation of it is totally up to you (even if that means discarding most the material if you want to), and this is the purest form of spiritual training that I can imagine.

I do understand and support the reasons for tutors to keep track of the progress of students, but for reasons of 'purity' I always tried to keep my contact with 'the organisation' (tutors and OBOD officials) as light and limited as possible. Providing enough information so they could monitor my progress, but without provoking their 'advice' about the material

The same with the community. Our fellow OBODies all have their own interpretations of what druidry is, and of how to work with the material. Including the people who are part of the OBOD organisation. I tried to not have that influence my training.

So the occasional less happy group dynamic, personality conflicts and disappointments with the organisation, doesn't have to impact the training itself if you can keep all that separated a bit. (Easier said than done perhaps).

I can't help thinking that if you've completed the course a few times you'll be able to answer this question for yourself as the information you need, and it is really simple information, is in the gwersi you possess.

I notice that you say you've spent 13 years in the Bardic grade, which must have been lovely, and I bet it was frustrating at times to have to change tutors, but doesn't life just get in the way sometimes? Haven't you ever committed to something that you couldn't see through because something else unexpected happened in your life that meant you had to back out? I know I have.

You talk of other organizations and a central preceptor. OBOD is a fairly large organization. No one person could do what the tutors do. Also, and now I'm just speaking from my own experience here, the service is entirely personal. Whenever I have written to a tutor I know absolutely that they have read what I have written, sat with it a while, given it due thought and attention, and then composed a sensitive reply. This is of inestimable value. It's not just a case of passing you through to the next level.

Wow... I sense some hostility here, so let me clear things up before you think I've expected someone to stick around for 13 years. (And, no, it has not been lovely)

The only reason I have gone through the course 3 times is because I have been unable to match up with a steady tutor, so I've just done most of it on my own. There were also some mix-ups with getting the course since I was unable to afford it at first and I was part of a study group where the one with the gwersi decided to change paths which left the rest of us hanging for a few years.

I was never able to get in touch with the first tutor, so I just went it alone until a few years later when I requested another tutor. That tutor was wonderful but life happens and she retired a year or two later.

Then life got busy for me (marriage, moving to a new city, etc.), so things went on hold on my end and I did not have a tutor at all. As things got less busy, I requested another tutor, but it was not a good fit. Now, I feel I am ready to move forward and I really hate to have to ask for yet another tutor, but it looks like that may be what I have to do just to get everything wrapped up.

As for the other organizations, I am a mentor with the ADF study program and have been for 6 years, so I know what it is like to be a tutor as the roles are very similar. ADF is also a very large organization with quite a vast training program, depending on what direction you want to go with your path.